Medics: Israeli troops shoot, injure Palestinian worker8/28/2013 – HEBRON (Ma’an) – Israeli troops shot and injured a young Palestinian man near al-Ramadin village south of Hebron while he was headed to work in Israel, a Red Crescent official. According to Nasser Qabaja of the Palestinian Red Crescent Association, the victim was evacuated in an ambulance to a public hospital in Hebron after he was shot in the foot near al-Ramadin. Medics in….

Settlers destroy dozens of olive trees near Nablus8/28/2013 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — A group of settlers raided private Palestinian olive groves south of Nablus on Wednesday and destroyed dozens of trees, a Palestinian Authority official said. Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an that the attack took place in an area between Huwwara and Burin. Settlers destroyed over 25 trees. The fields belong to Hasan….

Settlers escorted into Aqsa mosque compound8/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) – Dozens of Israeli rightists broke into al-Aqsa Mosque compound through the Old City’s Moroccan Gate Wednesday morning heavily escorted with Israeli police officers, Palestinian officials said. Officials in the Palestinian ministry of endowments told Ma’an that more than 60 settlers entered the compound in groups and toured its squares. Members of the Jewish Ames family along with….

Governor: Nablus man shot dead was killed in crossfire8/28/2013 – NABLUS (Ma’an) — A man shot dead on Tuesday was killed in the crossfire between Palestinian Authority security forces and gunmen in Askar refugee camp, the governor of Nablus said Wednesday.”A unit of security forces was assigned to arrest a wanted man in the camp according to the law and entered his house to arrest him,” Jibrin al-Bakri told Ma’an.”Then….

Palestinian schools switch to Israeli curriculum in Jerusalem8/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — The director of education in Jerusalem has urged families with schoolchildren in Jerusalem to be aware that at least five Palestinian schools are switching to Israeli education materials. Sameer Jibril said the Ebin Rushd and Abdulla bin Hussain schools were using Israeli education materials in the seventh and eighth grades. The Sour Baher school is using them for fourth, fifth and….

Protesters, PA forces clash in Ramallah8/28/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — Several protesters and police were injured Wednesday as police broke up a protest against negotiations in Ramallah. Brief clashes broke out as around 50 Palestinians protested the PA’s return to talks with Israel, a Ma’an reporter said. They were also protesting the fatal shooting of a Palestinian during an arrest raid by PA forces in Askar refugee….

Gaza teen injured after playing with explosives8/28/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — A teenager from Gaza was injured on Tuesday while playing with explosives. Mohammad al-Tarshawi, 18, from Nuseirat camp was moderately injured and had several fingers amputated following the incident. He was taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza for treatment. [END]

Egypt allows construction material to enter Gaza8/28/2013 – EL-ARISH, Egypt (Ma’an) — Egyptian authorities on Monday allowed the entry of construction materials into Gaza. Twenty-six trucks, including one truck of gravel and two trucks of iron, were allowed in to be used in Qatari-funded reconstruction projects. Last year, Qatar pledged $400 million in reconstruction funds to the Gaza Strip, and construction material for the projects entered Gaza in late December, breaking a….

Israel in partial army reserve call-up over Syria8/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (AFP) — The Israeli cabinet authorized on Wednesday a partial call-up of army reservists amid growing expectations of a foreign military strike on neighboring Syria, army radio reported. The unspecified number of troops are attached to units stationed in the north of the country, which borders both Lebanon and the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, the report said. 1 ) southparkbear….

Abbas meets Jordan’s king8/28/2013 – JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — President Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordan’s King Abduallah II on Wednesday to update him on negotiations with Israel. Abbas praised Jordan’s support for Palestinian efforts to establish an independent state, the official PA news agency Wafa reported. Meanwhile, King Abdullah II said Jordan would continue to be in close contact with Palestinian officials throughout negotiations. [END]

PM: Syria will become ‘graveyard of invaders’8/28/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi said Wednesday that Syria will turn into a “graveyard of the invaders” in case of foreign military intervention and accused the West of inventing pretexts to attack. Syria will “surprise the aggressors as it surprised them in” the 1973 Yom Kippur war, when Arab forces caught Israel off guard, and become “the graveyard of the invaders,” he said. The…. Related: Fatah official: Military action in Syria only serves Israel

PA ministry sends medical supplies to Gaza8/28/2013 – RAMALLAH (Ma’an) — The Palestinian Authority ministry of health on Wednesday sent a medical aid convoy worth 3 million shekels ($818,577) to Gaza.”It’s expected that the convoy will arrive Thursday morning and the ministry will not hesitate to provide Gaza with all the medicines they need,” caretaker Palestinian Authority prime minister Rami Hamdallah said while touring a health center in Ramallah….

PFLP: Hamas security force detain fighters in Gaza8/28/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Hamas security forces detained several members of the military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine overnight Tuesday, the leftist group said. Hamas forces raided several homes in Gaza and detained members of the
Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, the PFLP said. The raid took place as fighters and supporters of the PFLP commemorated the 12th anniversary of….

Fatah official: Hamas must stop detaining Fatah members8/28/2013 – GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Fatah official Taysir al-Bardini on Wednesday called for an end to Hamas’ detentions of Fatah leaders in Gaza. Al-Bardini called on officials to work to end the detention and summons of Fatah leaders in Gaza, which he said violated human rights laws and public freedoms. He urged all factions to work toward reconciliation and the release of political prisoners. [END]

Man dies of electric shock in Jenin village8/28/2013 – JENIN (Ma’an) – A young man died of electric shock Wednesday morning at a construction site in the northern West Bank village of Beit Qad east of Jenin. Director of Civil Defense services in Jenin Sami Hamdan told Ma’an that 22-year-old Ahmad Nassar from Beit Qad died immediately following an electric shock at work. Hamdan highlighted that Civil Defense teams and….

UN showdown set over action against Syria8/28/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) — Bashar Assad’s friends and foes headed for a showdown at the United Nations Wednesday, as Britain pushes for a resolution to pave the way for military strikes over suspected chemical attacks. The meeting comes as the United States and its allies pressed their case for likely military action against the Syrian president’s regime, despite stern warnings against intervention from….

UN team back from site of alleged Syria chemical hit8/28/2013 – DAMASCUS (AFP) – – UN experts returned from a visit Wednesday to the site of a second alleged chemical attack near Syria’s capital, a day after suspending work over safety fears, an AFP photographer said. Rebels who control the area said the inspectors had traveled in a six-vehicle convoy to the outlying Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, one of the areas hit in last week….

Iran’s Khamenei: US attack on Syria to spell ‘disaster’8/28/2013 – TEHRAN (AFP) — Any military intervention by the United States against Tehran’s ally Syria will spell “disaster” for the region, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday.”The US intervention will be a disaster for the region,” Khamenei, the Islamic republic’s most powerful authority, told a meeting with the cabinet of President Hassan Rowhani, state television reported.”The region is….

Assad keeps calm image in face of biggest threat to rule8/28/2013 – BEIRUT (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar Assad is trying to portray the image of a calm and determined leader ready to confront any challenge, as the West mulls military action against his regime.”At the presidential palace, everything is calm today and work goes on as usual. There’s no sign of nervousness. The same goes for the army headquarters. They will fight to the….

Muslim bloc urges ‘decisive action’ against Damascus8/28/2013 – JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The Organization of Islamic Cooperation on Wednesday condemned alleged poison gas attacks in Syria, blaming the government and calling for “decisive action” in response. The world’s largest grouping of Muslim nations “stressed the need to hold the Syrian government legally and morally accountable for this heinous crime and to bring its perpetrators to justice”. The OIC called on the….

Cameron to face skeptical parliament in Syria debate8/28/2013 – LONDON (AFP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron will Thursday make the case to parliament for targeted military action to halt the use of chemical weapons in Syria but faces opposition from lawmakers haunted by the Iraq war. Cameron and his ministers met with defense chiefs Wednesday and agreed that President Bashar Assad’s regime was behind the chemical attack near Damascus last week, Downing….

Syria envoy says soldiers gassed in new incidents8/28/2013 – UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Syria’s UN envoy said Wednesday that dozens of Syrian soldiers inhaled poison gas in new incidents in his country and called on the United Nations to investigate. Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters he had asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to extend the mandate of a UN chemical weapons team now in Syria to include the “heinous” new incidents. He….

US: ‘No avenue forward’ on UN Syria resolution8/28/2013 – WASHINGTON (AFP) — A resolution condemning Syria’s alleged poison gas use has stalled in the UN Security Council due to Russian “intransigence,” the United States said Wednesday.”We see no avenue forward, given continued Russian opposition to any meaningful Council action on Syria,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters as Washington and Western allies mull a possible strike on Syria after last….

Britain says no Syria action before UN inspection results8/28/2013 – LONDON (AFP) — Britain will not take military action against the Syrian regime before United Nations inspectors report back on evidence of chemical weapons attacks, according to a motion published by the government Wednesday that is set to be put to a parliamentary vote. Lawmakers are due to vote on Britain’s response to the attacks on Thursday but any military action will require a….

Illegal extremist settlement of Yitzhar expands during ‘peace talks’8/28/2013 – International Solidarity Movement – 28th August 2013, International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team, Asira, Occupied Palestine – Around 80 settlers and soldiers brought diggers and steam rollers near the Asira water project and started to flatten ground on private Palestinian land. Residents fear this is the first stage in an expansion of the illegal extremist settlement of Yitzhar that daily attacks Asira and the unfinished water project that will provide the….

Jordan: In Jordan, Palestine refugee children from Syria find hopeRelief Web 28 Aug 2013 – Source: UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East Country: Jordan, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic “I used to learn French when I was in Syria,” 14-year-old Rawan says after she finishes reading a book…

Lebanon: New Pressure on Old Refugee CampsRelief Web 28 Aug 2013 – Source: DanChurchAid Country: Lebanon, occupied Palestinian territory, Syrian Arab Republic Almost 90,000 Syrians of Palestinian origin have fled over the border to Lebanon where they have looked for help and shelter in the old Palestinian refugee camps from 1948. by…

Obama tackles the dream deferredThe National 28 Aug 2013 – Barack Obama sought to define a renewed fight for equality in the United States and warned of new threats to progress as he commemorated the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s historic speech on the struggle for racial justice in America. Taimur Khan reports

Saudi man dies of Mers virusThe National 28 Aug 2013 – A Saudi man has died of the coronavirus Mers, bringing the kingdom’s death toll from the Sars-like virus to 42, health authorities say.

Martin Luther King’s ‘Dream’ speech was off the cuffThe National 28 Aug 2013 – It’s the most memorable line from one of the greatest speeches delivered, yet the civil-rights leader, Martin Luther King, never planned to say “I have a dream” when he addressed the March on Washington 50 years ago.

Law to unify medical licensing throughout UAEThe National 28 Aug 2013 – Dr Amin Al Amiri, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Health and assistant undersecretary for medical practice and licensing, said the law would standardise all aspects of medical services in both the private and public sectors.

Syrians in the UAE fear for their homelandThe National 28 Aug 2013 – As the US and its allies prepares to attack the Assad regime, expatriates in the UAE have mixed views on the benefits of foreign intervention.

Arab League states’ views on Syria response far from uniformThe National 28 Aug 2013 – To illustrate the dilemma the use of chemical weapons in Syria poses for many governments in the Middle East, there is no better illustration than this week’s declaration by the Arab League. Elizabeth Dickinson reports

Iraq bombings, shooting claim at least 66 livesThe National 28 Aug 2013 – Baghdad residents awoke yesterday to a coordinated wave of bombings mainly targeting Shiite areas killing dozens, while seven in single family were shot dead as they slept south of the capital.

Australia endorses possible US strike on SyriaJerusalem Post 28 Aug 2013 – The Foreign Minister for the incoming chair of the UN Security Council declares: The sheer horror of a government using chemical weapons against its people, in any circumstances, mandates a response.

U.S. Neocon Hawks Take Flight Over SyriaIPS In an echo of the tactics they used to promote U.S. intervention in the Balkans, Iraq and Libya, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives published a letter Tuesday urging President Barack Obama to go far beyond limited military strikes against Syria in retaliation for its government’s alleged use last week of…

In Rush to Strike Syria, U.S. Tried to Derail U.N. ProbeIPS Secretary of State John Kerry (shown as a senator in 2009) has called the use of chemical weapons in Syria a “moral obscenity”. Credit: Ralph Alswang, Center for American Progress Action Fund/CC by 2.0 After initially insisting that Syria give United Nations investigators unimpeded access to the site of an…

Peace No Longer Rests on the Palestinian IssueIPS The end of the world’s most enduring conflict was always regarded as the essential linchpin of Mideast security. As direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians resume following a three-year hiatus, it seems too late for peace between them – if the declared goal of a peace deal within nine months…

Obama says no decision yet on Syria strikeDaily Star 28 Aug 2013 President Barack Obama says that he has not made a decision on making a military strike against Syria, but adds the goal of a limited action would be to deter future use of chemical weapons.

Obama at 50th anniversary embodies King’s dreamDaily Star 28 Aug 2013 President Barack Obama arrives to lead civil rights pioneers in a ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech roused the 250,000 people who…

Nigerians charged with aiding Iran militant cellDaily Star 28 Aug 2013 Nigeria charges two of its citizens with assisting an Iranian militant cell in planning possible attacks on Israeli targets, alleging that one had travelled to Tehran and Dubai to receive cash and had known about spying…

Britain says no Syria action before UN inspection resultsDaily Star 28 Aug 2013 Britain will not take military action against the Syrian regime before United Nations inspectors report back on evidence of chemical weapons attacks, according to a motion by the government that is set to be put to…

The Wild West is back in PalestineStop The Wall – Palestinian Grassroots Anti-apartheid Wall Campaign Jello Settlement and The Apartheid wall To Be Build By: Jamal Juma’ (oordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign) and Maren Mantovani (international relations coordinator of the Stop the Wall Campaign) Any joint activity in which all involved are aware that the stated goals won’t…

Russian resistance torpedoes United Nations resolution on Syria LA Times 28 Aug 2013 – WASHINGTON – A final Western effort to win a United Nations blessing for military action against Syria appeared to collapse Wednesday, but the United States and its allies were still expected to launch a retaliatory attack in response to President Bashar Assad’s alleged use of…

In Syria, U.N. inspectors return to site of alleged attackLA Times 28 Aug 2013 – BEIRUT — United Nations chemical weapons inspectors on Wednesday visited an area east of Damascus allegedly attacked with chemical weapons last week, and the world body’s leader said the team needed four days on the ground to complete its work.

Organized immigration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel endsLA Times 28 Aug 2013 – JERUSALEM — A plane carrying 450 immigrants from Ethiopia on Wednesday marked the end of Israel’s decades-long effort to bring Jews and their descendants from the African nation to the Jewish state.

Syria chemical weapons response poses major test for ObamaLA Times 28 Aug 2013 – Obama, who before taking office vowed to end the foreign policies of Bush, is now wrestling with some of the same moral and legal realities. WASHINGTON — The apparent poison gas attack that killed hundreds of Syrian civilians last week is testing President Obama’s views…

Federal complaints targeting Palestine solidarity activism on campus are dismissedMondoweiss – Students for Justice in Palestine activists at a conference at Columbia University in 2011. (Photo: Columbia SJP) Three separate probes into allegations that campus activism for Palestine created an anti-Semitic environment have been closed by the federal government. The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights…

‘Disappearing Palestine’ ads come to Vancouver public transitMondoweiss – (Photo: Noor Kesbeh, Palestine Awareness Coalition) From a Palestine Awareness Coalition press release: The realities of Palestinian land loss are on display in Vancouver, as a new series of transit ads has been posted at the Vancouver City Centre SkyTrain station and on 15 TransLink buses,…

The NYPD’s bigoted logic: Mosques are fronts for terrorismMondoweiss – From left to right, David Cohen, NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and former CIA agent; Mayor Michael Bloomberg; and NYPD chief Ray Kelly (Photo: EPA/ANDREW GOMBERT) The New York Police Department’s dragnet surveillance program labeled mosques as terrorist organizations to justify infiltrating religious institutions. The latest…

Israel Readies New Push To Deport African Immigrants The Foward Breaking News 28 Aug 2013 – Israel is preparing to start a large-scale campaign to pressure immigrants from Sudan and Eritrea to voluntarily leave the country after the September holidays, Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Wednesday. Click here for the rest of the article…

Obama ‘sure Syria behind attack’ BBC 28 Aug 2013 – President Barack Obama says the US has concluded that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attacks near Damascus last week.

Iran ‘boosts nuclear capabilities’ BBC 28 Aug 2013 – A report from the UN’s nuclear agency says Iran has further boosted its capacity for uranium enrichment, including installing more centrifuges.

Ethiopian Jews migrate to Israel BBC 28 Aug 2013 – About 450 Ethiopians of Jewish descent have been repatriated to Israel, concluding an Israeli government-backed scheme to relocate the community.

“Bandar ibn Israel” Al-Akhbar Blogs 28 Aug 2013 – The recent acts of political violence in the Middle East’s Levant are not unrelated. Car bombings in the predominantly Shia southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh; twin bombings targeting Sunni mosques in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli; an alleged chemical weapons attack in the suburbs of…

Should We Give Up Syria to the Lovers of Napalm and (Freedom)? Al-Akhbar Opinion 28 Aug 2013 – A picture downloaded from the US air force website shows F-16 Fighting Falcons Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, on 2 March 2012. (Photo: AFP) A picture downloaded from the US air force website shows F-16 Fighting Falcons Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, on 2 March 2012. (…

It’s War Then! Al-Akhbar Opinion 28 Aug 2013 – A picture released by the US Navy shows the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) transiting the Strait of Gibraltar on 3 August 2013 on their way to the Mediterranean Sea. (Photo: AFP – US NAVY)…

Egypt’s interim PM backs down on calls to dissolve Muslim Brotherhood Al-Akhbar News 28 Aug 2013 – Egypt should not ban the Muslim Brotherhood or exclude it from politics after the army’s overthrow of President Mohammed Mursi, the interim prime minister said on Tuesday, reversing his previous stated view. The apparent about-turn fuelled speculation that the military-installed government may now seek a political…

Attack on Syria: Lebanon Is Officially in a Coma Al-Akhbar News 28 Aug 2013 – An Israeli soldier walks next to Merkava tanks stationed in a deployment training area in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights near the border with Syria on 28 August 2013. (Photo: AFP – Menahem Kahana) An Israeli soldier walks next to Merkava tanks stationed in a deployment training…

View From Syria: Soldiers React to Looming US Strike Al-Akhbar News 28 Aug 2013 – An image grab taken from a video shows an opposition fighter firing an rocket propelled grenade (RPG) on 26 August 2013 during clashes with Syrian army over the strategic area of Khanasser, situated on the only road linking Aleppo to central Syria. (Photo: AFP – Salah…

Israeli forces amp up presence near Syrian border Al-Akhbar News 28 Aug 2013 – An Israeli soldier walks next to Merkava tanks stationed in a deployment training area in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights near the border with Syria on 28 August 2013. (Photo: AFP – Menahem Kahana) Updated at 4:55pm: Israel was bolstering its military presence near the Syrian border…

Obama ‘sure Syria behind attack’ BBC 28 Aug 2013 – President Barack Obama says the US has concluded that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attacks near Damascus last week.

Iran ‘boosts nuclear capabilities’ BBC 28 Aug 2013 – A report from the UN’s nuclear agency says Iran has further boosted its capacity for uranium enrichment, including installing more centrifuges.

Baghdad hit by deadly bombings BBC 28 Aug 2013 – A series of bombings in the Iraqi capital Baghdad has killed at least 68 people and wounded dozens more, police and medical sources say.

Saudi Arabia bans domestic abuse BBC 28 Aug 2013 – Saudi Arabia approves a law setting penalties for all forms of physical and sexual abuse, both at home and in the workplace.

Ethiopian Jews migrate to Israel BBC 28 Aug 2013 – About 450 Ethiopians of Jewish descent have been repatriated to Israel, concluding an Israeli government-backed scheme to relocate the community.

Articles

A day of ’law enforcement’: Upheaval, banishment and persecutionHaggai Matar, +972 Magazine 8/28/2013In the past 48 hours Israeli police have raided the renewed Palestinian villages of Iqrit and al-Araqib, banished Al-Araqib residents from their homes and tried to shut down a Tel Aviv café that serves as a hub for activists and the municipal opposition. Just two weeks ago the displaced Palestinian community of Iqrit celebrated the first anniversary since its return to old village lands in northern Israel. During their annual summer camp the village youth posted signs directing visitors to Iqrit from the nearby highway, and alongside Jewish youth from New Profile’s Alternative Summer Camp, planted a small herb garden. Earlier this morning (Wednesday) inspectors from the Israel Land Administration, accompanied by two border policemen, showed up and took down the signs, confiscated several tents and beds that were serving the people living there and uprooted the small garden. Three of Iqrit’s youth who were present practiced non-violent resistance by sitting on the confiscated beds (as can be seen in this Facebook clip). “All the inspectors said was that we don’t have any rights on their land, the state’s land, and we were telling them the opposite – that they have no right on our land and that we’re hurting no-one by sleeping out in the open and planting herbs,” says Sammer Tu’ama from Iqrit. “This isn’t the first time that we’ve had to deal with such treatment but we’re staying here.” (More pictures from Iqrit can be found on their Facebook page). Meanwhile, in the Negev on Monday, inspectors and police forces demolished the village of al-Araqib for the 55th time (residents have rebuilt it time and time again) and arrested four of its residents, including leading activist Sheikh Siakh A-Turi. The four are suspected of invading state-owned lands despite the fact that the High Court of Justice has prevented the state from declaring village lands its own – as the question of ownership is still pending in legal procedures. On Tuesday the four were released under the condition that they not return to village lands…. more..e-mail

The Jordan Valley in a State of PalestineJessica Purkiss, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) 8/27/2013‘Even if the territory of the Jordan Valley was to go to a state of Palestine, Israel would use the gross power imbalance to continue to extort its resources’ Palestinian families used to come to Al-Oja spring, in the Jordan Valley, to spend summer days bathing. The spring overflowed with water, turning the land into the “bread basket” of the West Bank. Today the spring has gone. Left behind is dry, arid land and a stone’s throw away from where the spring once was is a large pump, cordoned off behind a fence. This pump takes the water that once was Al-Oja spring to the many illegal Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley. Ariel Sharon once said, “You don’t simply bundle people onto trucks and drive them away… I prefer to advocate a more positive policy, to create, in effect, a condition that in a positive way will induce people to leave.” The Jordan Valley, which runs the length of the West Bank and makes up one-fifth of its total area, has an abundance of fertile terrain and water resources. Once home to around 320,000 Palestinians the reality behind Sharon’s statement has meant that less than a quarter of these people are still there. Through a myriad of common practices, including dispossession, land confiscation, resource control and movement restrictions, Israel has ensured that the remaining Palestinians are being forced from their land. Jeff Halper, from the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions, has said, “The EU calls it forced expulsion of Palestinians from the Jordan Valley; for sure, you could even define it as ethnic cleansing.” “What you have in the Jordan Valley is massive colonial expropriation of resources, 46 years worth of colonial practices,” said a spokesman from Ma’an Development Centre. more..e-mail

As Syria strike looms, Israeli embassy plays up ’threats facing Israel’+972 Magazine 8/28/2013 New and old media has gone abuzz with news that a U.S. strike on Syria could come as early as Thursday. And just as Israel’s cabinet ordered a ”limited” call up of reservist soldiers, a map outlining all the threats Israel faces suddenly popped up in my social media feed, courtesy of the Israeli embassy in the U.S., and published on BuzzFeed. The timing of this alarmist map couldn’t be more strategic. As the U.S. mulls some kind of strike in Syria (with absolutely no convincing arguments about how it will improve the situation for Syrian civilians) Israel is playing up the victim card, emphasizing that it is in a rough neighborhood surrounded by entities that want it destroyed. Obviously there are real threats of violence: from Hezbollah, extremists in Sinai,
and it ain’t easy sharing a border with a country at war – just ask Jordan, which is receiving the most refugees from Syria. I’m sure it can tell you how hard it is. But to say that the West Bank poses a threat to Israel? According to the Israeli embassy text: “In the West Bank, radical forces opposing the Palestinian Authority and a culture of conflict generate strong anti-Israel incitement and hatred.” First of all, it is ludicrous for Israel to call the West Bank a threat since it controls and occupies it, and it is especially infuriating considering it just shot at unarmed protesters, killing three Palestinian men and wounding over a dozen others in Qalandiya on Monday. Secondly, saying the West Bank is a breeding ground for “a culture of conflict” is incendiary and essentially racist, implying all Palestinians are violent by nature. more..e-mail

In Rush to Strike Syria, U.S. Tried to Derail U.N. ProbeGareth Porter, CounterPunch 8/28/2013Truth Beneath the Surface After initially insisting that Syria give United Nations investigators unimpeded access to the site of an alleged nerve gas attack, the administration of President Barack Obama reversed its position on Sunday and tried unsuccessfully to get the U.N. to call off its investigation. The administration’s reversal, which came within hours of the deal reached between Syria and the U.N., was reported by the Wall Street Journal Monday and effectively confirmed by a State Department spokesperson later that day. In his press appearance Monday, Secretary of State John Kerry, who intervened with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to call off the investigation, dismissed the U.N. investigation as coming too late to obtain valid evidence on the attack that Syrian opposition sources claimed killed as many 1,300 people. The sudden reversal and overt hostility toward the U.N. investigation, which coincides with indications that the administration is planning a major military strike against Syria in the coming days, suggests that the administration sees the U.N. as hindering its plans for an attack. Kerry asserted Monday that he had warned Syrian Foreign Minister Moallem last Thursday that Syria had to give the U.N. team immediate access to the site and stop the shelling there, which he said was “systematically destroying evidence”. He called the Syria-U.N. deal to allow investigators unrestricted access “too late to be credible”. After the deal was announced on Sunday, however, Kerry pushed Ban in a phone call to call off the investigation completely. more..e-mail

Canada Once again Flies the U.S. FlagPalestine Chronicle: 28 Aug 2013 – By Jim Miles The recent aggressive talk and actions by the U.S. are being fully supported by the current Canadian government led by Stephen Harper. In a recent telephone call reported by CBC radio, Harper announced that there should be “a firm response from the international community,” and that he “he shares the view that the recent chemical weapons attack was carried out by the Syrian regime.” There is no support provided for this, but it fits in perfectly well with Canada’s current view of the Middle East. That view includes full support for Israel, denial of Palestinian rights – indeed, denial of a Palestinian people except as terrorists and “Islamicists” – support for the Arab tribal monarchies of Bahrain, Yemen, Saudi Arabia et al, and full support for the U.S. attitude towards the region. They have spoken moderately about dialogue in their response to the rebels and Assad, but…more

The Guardian of What?: The Media and War PropagandaPalestine Chronicle: 28 Aug 2013 – By Jeremy Salt – Ankara If there is any comfort in how the Guardian has been reporting the Middle East, especially Libya and Syria, it is that many of its readers, judging from their remarks in ‘Comment is Free’, do not appear to believe or trust it. The Guardian sells itself as the global beacon of liberal opinion. It is liberal on social issues and alongside the chatterers, it has some excellent political correspondents and commentators, notably Gary Younge and Seamas Milne. As liberals themselves, its readers around the world must think they are on safe ground when quoting from the Guardian but if so, where the Middle East is concerned, they are deluding themselves. Throughout the crisis in Syria the Guardian has been not so much reporting the conflict as running a propaganda campaign against the government in Damascus, to the benefit of the armed Islamist groups and the…more

The Role of the U.N. in Creating the Israeli-Palestinian ConflictPalestine Chronicle: 28 Aug 2013 – By Jeremy R. Hammond The United Nations was founded with the stated aim of maintaining peace among nations, but the reality is that not only has it consistently failed to prevent international conflicts, it has had no small part in causing them. One instructive case study was its role in its early years of helping to create the still-unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to the preamble to the U.N. Charter, signed by its founding member states in June 1945, the organization’s goal is “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war” and to “establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained.” Article 1 of the Charter further describes the U.N.’s purposes as being to “maintain international peace and security…in conformity with the principles of justice and international law.” The Charter also explicitly recognizes “the principle of…more

Obama Constituency Overwhelmingly Supports War with SyriaDissident Voice: 28 Aug 2013 – Despite a Reuters/Ipsos poll showing that only 9% of Americans support military intervention in Syria, the White House today assured the public that a more recent and reliable poll leaves no doubt that the President’s constituency favors war. The poll was conducted by Defense Industries Systems Information, Inc. (DIS Information). It shows that 99.9% prefer increased U.S. military intervention. The poll has a .1% margin of error. DIS Information spokesperson Lyon Daly spoke to this reporter about the polling methodology and findings. Lyon Daly: We use the same scientific polling methods as Reuters/Ipsos, but our job is to come up with results that support what our clients and the President want to hear without compromising quality. It’s very similar to the way the press provides facts without informing the public, and we even provide many such facts.” Barb Weir: How do you do this and still maintain methodological integrity?” LD:…more

Washington Poison Gas AttackDissident Voice: 28 Aug 2013 – The administration seems to be surpassing previous regimes in bloody hypocrisy as it feigns shock and awe at alleged crimes committed in Syria. After we have been told that more than 100 thousand Syrians have been killed in a civil (?) war mostly the responsibility of outside forces capitalizing on legitimate internal concerns, we are supposed to believe that shooting, stabbing, decapitating, bombing and burning are all tolerable forms of slaughter, but chemical weapons are shockingly inappropriate forms of murder. What’s a civilized nation do? President Boobama works to make the previous pinhead look smart by comparison as he first steps into diplomatic excrement by proclaiming that use of chemical weapons would cross a “red line” established by more polite mass murderous practices of the west. After first receiving word of this red line crossing from unimpeachable sources called “rebels”, all of these information sources operating from the safety of countries…more